(October 22, l999 - Excerpt from the Press Democrat)

Turkey Farm Cries Foul Over Parrots

Disease Threatens Pt. Arena Ranch

Oct. 22, 1999

By TIM TESCONI
Press Democrat Staff Writer

Feathers are flying on the Mendocino Coast where a newly-established parrot preserve is threatening the survival of a turkey breeding farm that has operated for years in the remote hills of Point Arena. Nicholas Turkey Breeding Farms, an international, Sonoma County-based company that operates the turkey farm, has given notice that it will vacate the ranch if the neighboring parrot farm is not closed by the county.

Simply stated, parrots and turkeys don't mix because of the transmission of fatal and highly contagious bird diseases. The turkey breeding farm was established in Point Arena because the area is so isolated from pet birds and backyard chickens. "It does seem ironic that there's only one turkey ranch and only one parrot breeding farm in Mendocino County and they're next to each other in Point Arena,'' said Keith Faulder, aUkiah attorney who has been hired by theStornetta family. The Stornettas, longtime coastal dairy ranchers, own the property that Nicholas Turkey Breeding Farms leases in Point Arena.Barbara Gould said Thursday she and her parrots are not budging from her 17-acre farm inPoint Arena, where she has established the Parrot Preservation Society, a nonprofit group dedicated to saving parrots around the world. She and her husband, Geoffrey, acquired theMendocino Coast property this summer and began moving hundreds of parrots, many of them rescued birds, from her previous home inArizona."I'm gearing up for the fight of my life. They are after my life and livelihood,'' said Gould, 53.The battle of the birds is raising issues of private property rights, zoning laws and the clash between agriculture and urban transplants that move into farming areas. Sources said millions of dollars are at stake for Nicholas Farms. The threat of disease from the parrots jeopardizes Nicholas's ability to ship fertile turkey eggs to its markets around the world. Nicholas is one of the world's primary turkey breeders, producing the parent-stock of turkeys raised for meat. "How someone can move in and ruin a business that has been here so long is just not right," said Walter R. Stornetta, a fourth-generation dairy rancher who owns the Point Arena ranch.

"The parrot people are a classic example of what happens when people from urban areas move into agriculture areas and don't understand the ramifications of what they do to farming.'' Ed Merritt, an executive at Nicholas Farms,declined to comment on the parrot controversy. The Mendocino County Planning and Building Department is investigating the parrot breeding operation, which, according to a preliminary ruling, is in violation of county zoning regulations. Nicholas Farms already has moved some of its 1,000 pedigreed turkeys off the Point Arenaranch to other North Coast sites because of thethreat of disease from the hundreds of parrots on the neighboring property. Nicholas employs 10 people at the ranch. Scientists said the proximity of the turkeys and parrots is a serious health issue because diseases, such as exotic newcastle, Avian influenza and psittacosis, can be easily spread by the wild birds and rodents traveling between the two properties. The properties are only 1,500 feet from fence line to fence line but should be miles apart to prevent the spread of disease, according to avian specialists. "Both parties should be very concerned,'' said Dr. Francine Bradley, an avian specialist with the University of California Cooperative Extension a tDavis. "There are a whole gamut of diseases that can be transferred between the turkeys and parrots when there is so little geographic separation,'' Bradley said that in poultry-producing counties,such as Fresno, Madera and Kings, there are strict county laws that regulate distances between poultry operations for disease control. Bradley said Nicholas has an extensive "bio-security" system at its ranches to prevent the spread of disease. Turkeys are kept in environmentally-controlled houses and human visitors are strictly regulated. On the rare occasions that humans are allowed on Nicholas farms they are required to enter a sanitation chamber where they must shower and put on sterile coveralls. Gould questions Nicholas' bio-security system, saying Nicholas workers have moved freely between the two properties when they've told her she and her parrots had to move. Gould said she did extensive checking on zoning and land-use regulations before buying the property. She said she was assured by county planners that she could raise and breed parrots on the Point Arena property. Gould said now because of political pressure from the Stornetta family the county is saying she may be in violation of zoning laws."They said parrots are not considered a bonafide agricultural endeavor," Gould said.A county zoning enforcement code inspector is scheduled to come to Gould's property today. Gould expects to receive an order to remove the parrots from her property and is mustering community support.Alan Falleri, chief planner for the Mendocino County Planning and Building Department, said the county's preliminary decision is that Gould is in violation of zoning laws because parrots are not an agricultural activity and she is operating in an agricultural zone. "Unless she is raising parrots for meat, it is a violation of zoning regulations," he said. "There is a fine line between what is an agricultural and non-agricultural use. Generally, we consider an agricultural use to be the production of food and fiber." Falleri said today's inspection will determine what Gould is doing with the parrots and if there is a violation. Falleri said a cease and desist order will be issued if Gould is in violation. He said because of the disease potential of the parrots on the neighboring turkeys, she could receive an emergency order to immediately remove the parrots. Falleri also disputes Gould's claim she was told by members of the county's planning staff that she could establish the parrot breeding operation on agricultural land in Point Arena. "The testimony of our planners is that no one told her any such thing," Falleri said. Gould has her own lawyers working to protect her interests. "My attorneys in Arizona can't find the basis for the complaint" by the county, she said. The Mendocino County Farm Bureau is supporting Nicholas Farms in the battle and has sent a letter to the Planning Department urging that the county take swift action to get the parrots out of Point Arena

(Gould's notes)

missing from this article is the information about the bio-security infringement by Nicholas' employee: the assumption that we are diseased is certainly erroneous, and that we just move from some sort of 'urban' living is wrong---- we are also farmers. We did have the blessing of planning and zoning before we purchased said property. If so many of the county's notes are in the form of verbal communication and they cannot provide them, but acknowledge that those conversations took place, then why not my conversations with planning and zoning?